Merit Financial Group LLC Purchases New Stake in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG)

Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 20,082 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $879,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp bought a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at $8,134,000. Versor Investments LP bought a new position in Citizens Financial Group during the third quarter worth about $1,910,000. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 19.3% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,974,434 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $217,781,000 after purchasing an additional 805,758 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 4.8% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 655,600 shares of the bank’s stock worth $28,368,000 after purchasing an additional 29,940 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $590,000. 94.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CFG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $53.00 target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Tuesday. Compass Point lifted their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $45.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Citizens Financial Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.00.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Performance

CFG opened at $48.34 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $30.24 and a 12-month high of $49.25. The business has a 50 day moving average of $45.66 and a 200-day moving average of $42.79. The stock has a market cap of $21.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.95, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.10.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The bank reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1,962,330 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 12.21% and a return on equity of 6.75%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.85 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.45%.

Citizens Financial Group Profile

Citizens Financial Group, Inc operates as the bank holding company that provides retail and commercial banking products and services to individuals, small businesses, middle-market companies, corporations, and institutions in the United States. The company operates in two segments, Consumer Banking and Commercial Banking.